Labyrinthian
by Carolle Royale
Summary: There was something about that little piece of mint which made him completely and utterly stuck. He just didn't know what exactly it was. *10


**Disclaimer : Gakuen Alice does not belong to me.**

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**A/N : **Okay, the reason why I wrote this is because I lost a bet to _Alexxis T. Swan _and she gave me this prompt. To be perfectly honest, I don't like it. The prompt I mean, or rather the pairing. I'm sorry to all those who ship Natsume and Hotaru, but, I actually do not like this pairing. I honestly don't think they'll work. They are just so...I dunno, don't match. Yes, they are quite similar, but come on, opposites attract! Likes repel! Well okay, I'm done rambling. (God _T_, the things I write for you! You might get a bit mad at the ending though :P)

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**Labyrinthian**

**~(*)~**

Natsume Hyuuga was stuck.

No, he wasn't glued down onto his chair. Nor was he stuck amongst a hoard of stupid teachers and students.

He was stuck.

In his own thoughts.

Or rather dreams, actually.

He had the same one every single day.

To say it was odd was an understatement, it was downright queer.

He hadn't thought much of it at first; after all, he had learnt not to overthink things. He accepted things just the way they were. He wasn't a fatalist, no, that would've been simply absurd, but he let the chips fall as they may. He liked to think of himself as stoic, but that would've been a lie. He might've been stoic back in his middle schools days, but now..he definitely wasn't.

Three years ago, on his thirteenth birthday, things had changed rather precipitously when Mikan had told him that she didn't want to date him anymore. Natsume had been flabbergasted. How could she just forget all that they had been through? Had they not been destined for each other?

But apparently they weren't because Mikan decided it would be better for her if she dated Kiroshima Hiniki, a boy in the grade above them. She claimed that she and him were far too different and that she and Kiroshima were perfect for each other.

Mikan and Kiroshima had been going out for two years now and to be perfectly honest, he really didn't mind. It sort of gave him an excuse to be a misogynist and instead of maintaining his air of indifference like he used to back when he was twelve, he snapped at all the moronic girls who dared cross him.

His fan club dissolved within a month.

There were still a few girls who still had a crush on him (strictly for his looks), but most were intimidated by his mere presence.

Except for one.

He didn't know why or how it happened. When everyone seemed to loathe him, she was always there. It wasn't as if she conforted him, no, it was just about the opposite.

But...there was something about her that was different. He quite couldn't put a finger on it.

**~(*)~**

The cool autumn breeze ruffled his hair and swarmed all over his face. It was an eerily quiet night with not even a hint of a human presence anywhere. If it weren't for the small diner a few feet away from him, Natsume would've thought that he was stranded somewhere in the wilderness. He wasn't sure why there was a diner here in the first place; it didn't seem to be a popular route for any road trips nor did it seem to be a place worth visiting.

Closing the car door and pressing the lock key, Natsume trudged over to the diner with his hands deep in his pockets. His eyes wondered over to a green placard placed on top of the entrance. The words 'Shadow Glen' was etched on it.

Natsume's lips twitched with mild amusement. The name was _certainly very_ appropriate. Removing his left hand from his pocket, Natsume pushed open the door and was immediately welcomed by a warm gust of air and the smell of freshly cooked lasagne. The diner was practically empty save for two couples huddled up in a corner and a waiter obsequiously attending to their orders. His eyes roamed over the place, in search for the reason why he even bothered to drive up so far away.

They landed upon a figure sitting in the furthest corner from the door. Her back was faced towards him, but Natsume knew that it was her. After all, no one else could possibly have the same mane of hair like hers.

Shaking his head to himself, Natsume sauntered off in that direction. He could tell that she sensed his presence but she didn't turn around to greet him. Instead, she simple tapped her foot(which was clad in a three inch black heel) on the marble floor.

"You're late." Was what he was greeted with when he took a seat in front of the dark haired girl. One of her arms were propped under her chin and the other one was placed on top of the diner's menu card. He noticed quite startlingly that her nails were polished with red glossy enamel which matched her red blouse perfectly. Applying nail varnish wasn't something that he thought she'd have the time to do, but then again, she was full of surprises.

"You're simply early," he replied, sitting down onto the cushioned seat. He noted with appreciation that they were seated in such a way that he couldn't see the other two couples. It was almost as if they were the only ones in the diner. "Why did you call me here?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

She raised a perfect brow at him before crossing her legs. Her black skirt hitched up her thigh a bit when she did that, but she seemed not to care. "Do I _need_ a reason to call you?"

The corners of his lips tugged down. "So you're telling me that you called me here for absolutely _no_ reason at all?" his voice sounded incredulous even to his own ears.

She smirked slightly. "Precisely."

Natsume shook his head. "You're insane."

She narrowed her amethyst eyes at him. "The same can be said for you, Hyuuga."

He twitched slightly at the sound of his surname. He didn't know why, but it sounded strange when it came from her lips. It was actually quite disconcerting considering the fact that 'Hyuuga' was all she ever called him. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"We're seventy five miles away from Tokyo." He stated erratically after a few moments of silence.

"Actually, it's seventy seven." She corrected him swiftly.

"Pedant," he muttered lowly under his breathe.

She ignored that jibe and proceeded to push the menu out towards him. "Order something."

He pushed it back toward her. "I don't feel like eating."

She clicked her tongue. "And there I thought you were going to say that you'd only order after I did. My, how chivalry has died."

Natsume clenched his fists under the table and stared at the ground. He didn't know why that irked him so much. It didn't make any sense.

Nothing made any sense.

"What can I get you?"

Natsume lifted his head up from the ground to see the waiter standing there holding a black notebook in her hand. She was wearing a pair of brown trousers paired up with a white button up shirt. Her golden hair was braided messily and it hung over her left shoulder. She was quite attractive; he had to give her that. But her intent staring was quite annoying. As expected, she was gazing keenly at him.

"Ask her first," he said, motioning towards the woman sitting in front of him.

The waiter turned unwillingly to her. "What would you like?" She asked, still as sycophantic as ever. Natsume rolled his eyes at that. If the girl thought that she'd get a handsome tip from him, then she certainly thought wrong.

"I'd like the Sicilian Smoked Bacon with rye bread, please."

The waiter nodded as she noted it down in her notebook. "And you? What would you like?"

Natsume opened the menu card and ordered the first thing that his eyes landed on. "I'll have the Caesar salad."

The girl nodded. "Okay, anything else?"

He shook his head." No."

She flashed him a smile, "Your food will be here shortly!" And with another smile, she turned around and left the duo.

"I thought you weren't going to eat."

"Chivalry, isn't dead, Imai."

She quirked a small smile at that. "Perhaps."

He leaned back on his seat and folded his arms across his chest. "Aren't you supposed to be working on the Rutherfordium's Scholastic Davy paper?"

"I'm done."

"Already?"

"Yes."

Natsume didn't say anything after that; he simply stared straight across from him. The silence between them loomed out for what seemed like eternity, but he didn't mind. It was normal – it was what made them...them.

Even when their food arrived, no words passed between them. Just the occasional clutter of forks and knives on the plates.

It was only when the bill was due to be paid that the raucous silence ended.

"I'll pay," Hotaru told Natsume as he reached out for the bill.

He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. After all, if she wanted to pay...then who was he to stop her?

He noticed the waiter eyeing them from the opposite corner of the room.

"Don't give her a tip." Natsume said quietly.

Hotaru didn't even spare him a glance. "I wasn't planning on to." With that, she took out a few notes from her clutch, placed it on the table, got up from her seat and sauntered out to the exit.

Natsume followed her out.

"Mint?" She offered to him as he stepped out of the diner and onto the murky road.

He took it without a word and plopped it into his mouth.

"I'll see you later then, Hyuuga." She said as she took a few steps back.

"Where's your car?"

"Somewhere," she answered evasively. "You should get in yours."

Without another word, Natsume nodded and then dug out the keys for his car. When he looked up, Hotaru was nowhere to be seen.

Shaking his head to himself, he opened the door of his Toyota and got in.

That woman was so complex.

It was a wonder how he even survived this long.

**~(*)~**

"You called me again."

Hotaru looked up from the book she was reading to see Natsume standing awkwardly at the edge of her table. She was seated in one of the most secluded areas of the library and there were about fifteen textbooks sprawled across her domain.

"Do you always have to state the obvious?"

She heard Natsume emit a growl at that. "I was sleeping when your call woke me up."

Hotaru shrugged. "I didn't force you to come here. You came on your own will."

He gave her a glare. "You are seriously getting on my nerves,Imai."

Hotaru shrugged and then fished something out of the front chain of her back-pack. "Mint?" She offered him.

Even though he was more than a bit annoyed at her, his hands automatically reached out for the mint.

After popping it into his mouth, Natsume felt his previous irritation slowly fading away. He narrowed his eyes on Hotaru. "I'm not going to come next time."

And with that he turned around and swiftly walked away.

Hotaru smirked to herself.

Oh, he'd come alright.

**~(*)~**

Natsume felt white hot anger pulsing through his veins. This was the limit. This was definitely the _last _straw.

"We're going to the Prom?" He asked her furiously, "If you've forgotten, we both agreed _not _attend that atrocious event!"

Hotaru gave him a scrutinizing look. "It'll be fun."

"Fun?" Natsume growled out, "You think it'll be _fun_, Imai? What the hell is _wrong _with you?"

"Nothing," she replied coolly. "You seem to be over-reacting about the whole debacle."

Natsume ran an agitated hand through his hair. "I don't know what you're playing at, Imai but whatever it is, I refuse to go. You can't make me go to this ruddy prom."

"Is that a challenge?"

Natsume stopped short. "Yes."

Hotaru gave him a sardonic smile. "Alright then, challenge accepted." And then she got out something from her pocket. "Mint?"

He took it without a single word.

**~(*)~**

_He was sitting against the trunk of a chestnut tree. It was slightly drizzling, causing his hair to stick to his forehead. From what he could tell, it was probably six in the evening or so. There were only three other trees in the orchard besides the one he was leaning against. The rest of them had been cut down, leaving the orchard disturbingly bare. _

_He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the wind. It reminded him of the toy whistles he used to play with back when he was a child. It was strange, how the wind sounded so shrill yet the rain wasn't as intense as it ought to be. It didn't match up._

_The deafening roar of thunder made his eyes flash open. The rain was coming down harder now but the wind had stopped whistling._

_It certainly was strange._

_Natsume rolled his neck and then proceeded to get up. Dusting the mud and bracken of his jeans and moving his hair out of his eyes, he noticed a girl standing a few feet away from him._

_She had long black hair, the colour of charcoal. It was a contrast to the pure white gown that she donned. There were no slippers on her feet and even though it was raining cats and dogs now, her hair was completely dry. In fact, her whole body was._

_As if on its own accord, his feet took him closer to her. She was definitely pretty._

_Natsume opened his mouth, "Are you Umimi Kani?"_

_The girl nodded. "Yes."_

"_You discovered it. Element 117."_

_The girl didn't say anything. _

"_Why are you doing this to me?"_

"_It's necessary."_

_Natsume clenched his jaw. "Let me go."_

_The girl shook her head, "I can't."_

"_Bu-"_

"_Mint?" She offered._

_And like always, he accepted._

**~(*)~**

Hotaru Imai admired the little bag she held in her hand. It had taken her quite some time to come up with a use for her little discovery but it was worth the wait.

People always thought that the she was always cooped up in her lab because she was inventing something. Yes, she indeed was inventing something, but it wasn't what they thought. They thought that it had taken her months to build the cancer arm machine. They thought it had taken her months to build the specialised 367 hybrid computer for the Swiss Bank.

No one knew that her alias was Umimi Kani.

Except for Natsume.

But he wouldn't tell anyone. She was sure of it.

He belonged to her now and nobody else. Hotaru allowed herself to smile as she saw the picture of herself and Natsume pinned on her board. She knew that he'd come with her to the Prom. It was quite expected, really.

They were destined for each other. It didn't matter that the mint played a significant role. After all, all is fair in love and war.

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I'm sorry, but thats _exactly_ the way how I think a NatsumexHotaru relationship will work. I think the only reason it'll ever happen is if Hotaru forces him into it. I like Hotaru, I really do, but this is what I think she'd do if she wanted Natsume. Oh if you're wondering why she wants Natsume..well I'd personally like to think because she's jealous of Mikan. Regardless of how stoic and phlegmatic she claims to be, I think she'd have some sort of humane emotion inside her. And to me, I think it'd be jealousy, or you know, ambition. Something like that.

Feedback would be cool, even negative ones :)

_Carolle Royale_


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